Later
by MissWritingStoriesObsessed
Summary: The five times Mike tells himself Andrea is just another crewmate and the one time he can't. One-Shot. Enjoy.


**Later.**

The five times Mike tells himself Andrea is just another crewmate and the one time he can't. (or at least this was the idea.) Some sections are based off of events in the show and others are just bits I've made up to fit the story.

Reviews are very much loved and appreciated and after writing my previous one-shot I had a little inspiration for this one, so I hope you enjoy it. All mistakes are my own, hopefully I got them all in my proof read.

 **Disclaimer – I don't own anything.**

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 **1.**

Mike Slattery had been putting off going down to sickbay for at least an hour now. Pacing the ship, staring at the wall in his stateroom, observing those on the bridge, anything except going down to that room.

' _Tough as nails, that one.'_

Maybe it wasn't the best way to describe Andrea Garnett, Chief Engineer, but it's the first thing that came to mind after the initial panic he felt upon hearing she'd been injured.

Now, after an hour of avoiding it, he was stood outside of sickbay, waiting to go in to check up on her after a semi-failed mission.

"The Chief Engineer is okay, she's had some pain medication and I've examined her, I would say she'll be back on her feet in around a week, maybe two." Mike nodded to Rios who was giving him an update, biting back the urge to comment on how Andrea would be back at her work station tomorrow if the Captain let her.

"Thanks, Doc. Is she up for visitors." Mike asked.

"Yes, sir."

Sickbay was a dull room, much like the rest of the ship if Mike was being honest, but sickbay always made him feel uneasy, maybe because of how much death the room had seen, a part of the job, he knew that, but still.

"Sir," Andrea's voice pulled him back into the room, and out of his thoughts. Instantly he saw her trying to move, and took a step towards her, pushing her shoulder back down.

"I think it's best you stay there, wouldn't want you out any longer than you already are." Mike said with a small smile, but a hint of humour in his voice.

"Talk to the Captain and I can be back tomorrow." Mike laughed slightly, thinking of his unspoken comment from before.

"You need to rest, Andrea. Believe it or not the ship needs you at the top of your game, and if that means you need to grace the sickbay with your presence for the next two weeks then so be it." Mike took a seat in the chair next to the bed, not sure how long he would stay, but he felt almost too intimidating stood over her.

Even thought he knew Andrea wasn't the slightest bit scared of him, and never had been.

"Well, XO, it really does sound like you care," Andrea chuckled, letting her head fall back on the pillow, it was beginning to hurt her neck holding her head up to look at him.

"You're a member of this crew, I am sure it's in the job description that I care, or at least it's implied by the higher ups." Mike told her, watching as a smile formed on her face.

Once again, he found himself pushing down those feelings, his brain working overtime to tell him that he was a married man, and that Andrea was happily married too, and that for the tenth time that day, she was a crewmate, she was the Chief Engineer, and this was a ship with strict rules.

He wasn't allowed to have feelings for her, but some how he did.

 **2.**

It wasn't like it was completely new to her. The Captain raising his voice in frustration at the situation as a whole, taking it out on one person simply because they were stood in front of him. But today, while Captain Chandler aired his frustrations Andrea was working hard to hold back the tears.

Still she was in pain from the shrapnel wound to her leg, she hadn't slept in close to 48 hours and she still had a lot of catching up to do in the engine room.

"With all due respect, sir, I understand your frustration,"

"Do you?" Andrea stood silently, she knew the question was rhetorical, but she so badly wanted to give an answer, one that was laced with sarcasm, just to prove that she had feelings, but she didn't, instead she waited patiently to be dismissed.

Once out of the room, Mike, who had been stood silently in the corner, gave Tom a look.

"It's not like she's been sat around doing nothing, she was injured." Mike tried, wishing he'd said something sooner to stop the verbal attack which he knew Tom would later apologise for.

"Tough as nails, isn't that what you said?" Mike gave a tight nod, those were his words.

"She spent two weeks in sickbay, and she is now playing catch up and we both know her well enough to know she won't have slept. Everyone is frustrated Tom, you don't need to single her out just because of what happened." Mike told him, knowing that referring to the previous mission would only strengthen Tom's frustration.

"I'll apologise later if that's going to make you feel better, XO." Tom said, his tone sharp and almost bitter.

Mike didn't want to make another comment about how he would like that, he didn't want to force the Captain to apologise immediately because of his own personal feelings for the woman, so he copied Andrea's earlier actions and remained quiet until dismissed.

Once out of the room, Mike caught sight of Andrea a little further down the passage way.

"XO,"

"Andrea."

"As much as I appreciate it, I don't need you sticking up for me like that. I'm a big girl, you know."

Mike watched as the Chief Engineer turned and walked away, leaving him speechless in the passage way, telling himself to snap out of it, she was a member of this crew, she wasn't his to protect, she was just another woman working on a Navy ship, just someone who happened to crawl her way into his heart without him realising it.

 **3.**

Mike Slattery watched as the crew made conversation with those on the ground. These were the men and woman in uniform who'd survived the virus and had committed to helping in any way they could when it came to finding loved ones.

He had to admit, he felt proud of them all, the fact that they could have given up so easily, but still they wore the uniform, putting everyone else before themselves.

His eyes settled on Andrea, her eyes still full of hope at finding her husband and daughter alive. She was talking to someone he had yet to speak too, but Mike wasn't sure he wanted to. For the last few weeks his only focus had been the job, the task at hand, but now he was able to have a few moments to let his mind wonder, not that it was the best idea, these days his mind either wondered to the fate of his children, or her, Andrea, the woman he should not be falling for.

This man was making her smile, and for only a few seconds Mike imagined that Andrea felt as if all was right in the world. Until she realised it wasn't.

"XO," Tom approached him, getting his attention.

"Captain," He replied, giving them man his full attention, pushing Andrea and her smile to the back of his mind to think about another time.

 **4.**

Mike honestly didn't know what was worse. Knowing the fate of loved ones or not knowing. He assumed knowing would be devastating now, but in the years to come people had closure, but then for those who didn't have that confirmation, they had hope.

He wondered how long people could hold onto hope.

"Is there anything I can do?" His question was a pathetic one, one that was said simply to break the silence that had fallen between himself and the Chief Engineer as she sat on her bunk, her heart breaking as it still sunk in, the news she was now a widow and a mother to a dead child.

Andrea shook her head, and Mike wondered if or not it was a cue to leave. He had never been very good with comfort. Christine described him as the fun parent, and while he was still capable of hugs, kisses and soothing his kids while they cried, it was usually Christine who did it.

"Andrea," He paused, "I am so, so sorry."

All he wanted in that moment was to wrap her in his arms and not let go until it was all over, until she couldn't cry no more, until she had stopped screaming at the world for the pain it had caused her. He wanted to make it all better.

Mike swallowed hard, trying to push that emotion down, a feeling that he hadn't dealt with in years, all because he was watching the woman he had grown to love mourning the loss of everything she cared about.

 **5.**

"Thank you, for staying strong out there." Andrea said to Mike.

Both of them finally clean of the mud and dirt they'd been covered in for what seemed like weeks.

"I had no other choice." Mike admitted honestly. He had no other choice in the middle of a jungle, a prisoner of war, dealing with the loss of a crew member.

"I know," Andrea shrugged. "But, seeing you not give up, I guess it made me realise I couldn't give up."

Mike smiled, at least he did something right out there.

"I know you're going to blame yourself for the next few years, and I won't tell you not to, because I know you don't follow orders well, but," Andrea paused again. "If it means anything, I don't blame you."

Mike chuckled a little. She was right, he followed orders, maybe just not with a smile on his face like he was probably supposed to.

"It does mean a lot, Andrea. Look, not the right time or place, but we could have died out there, hell, I have lost count of how many times we could have died…" Mike trailed off, sitting down on the couch next to her.

Andrea reached out to take his hand, a small smile on her face.

"Don't say it, because then we'll have to have that conversation, and I am not sure if I can. But, me too."

"You don't even know what I am going to say." Mike shot back.

Andrea gave his hand a small squeeze.

"Fine. Whatever you're going to say, don't. We'll figure it all out later."

"Later."

 **6.**

"You were never just a crewmate, you were never just the Chief Engineer," Mike said as he came to stand next to Andrea, looking over the balcony at the New White House.

Andrea let out a breath, turning to look at him.

"I'm not blind, I noticed, maybe not at first, but I noticed by the end, and by then, I think I was just as in love with you as you were, are, with me."

Mike smiled, taking Andrea's hand.

"Why don't we talk about it later?" Mike asked her.

"Later." Andrea agreed.

Later. Later meant tomorrow, it meant in a week, a year, five years, the future. At least later meant they would have a future.

Both turned to look out over the new capital, hand in hand, small smiles on their faces, not healed, but content in this new place they'd have to learn to call home, together.

A new world for all of them. A new world to live in. Maybe more importantly, a new world to love in.

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I would love to know what you all thought of this. Thank you for reading.


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